Right, ok, fine.
Looks like I may have been a little too hasty in my initial assessment of Eddie Nketiah. I wasn’t sure whether or not he would be able to take what he had done at academy level and translate it instantly into a Championship side. As a result, I didn’t think that he’d be able to replace the goals we lost when we let go of Kemar Roofe.
However, I must admit that he has had an incredible start to his time at Elland Road, continuing it last night with his goal against Stoke City.
Although, when you stop and think about it, how much of that goal that he scored last night was really down to him, and how much of it was down to luck? Was it a result of ‘goal-poachers instinct’? Or was he just in the right place at the right time?
At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, a goal is a goal, and he showed a great touch to take it past Jack Butland so quickly, but when it comes to the end of the season and we have to assess how well he’s done on his loan deal, let’s just say that this will be well down the list of ‘this is why he was so great’ moments.
Now though, I want to see him push on, and part of that means more minutes in the Championship. As I wrote last week, Patrick Bamford is being asked to carry the majority of the load this season when it comes to goals. Whilst I initially said Nketiah wasn’t that man, his recent form has shown me otherwise, but how do you manage to keep both players happy? Do you change the formation as Phil Hay reported Bielsa was considering the other day? Or do you have to go the whole hog and make Nketiah the main forward in the Championship?
What do you think? Has Nketiah’s blistering start to life at Elland Road convinced you that he should be getting more minutes in the league? Or do you think that he’d be better off staying on the bench and making the odd appearance here and there?